Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Title: Turtles of Massachusetts: Their Natural History and Conservation

Turtles have likely lived in what we now call Massachusetts for more than 200 million years. They are a diverse group of fascinating animals, with some amazing adaptations. Our most common species, the painted turtle, for example, can survive for more than 3 months without any oxygen and hatchling painted turtles typically pass the winter frozen solid in their underground nests. One individual tortoise recently passed away at an estimated age of 255 years old! Despite their toughness, more than half of the 330 turtle species worldwide are in some danger of extinction from human hunting and landscape change.

Dr. Bryan Windmiller, Director of Conservation at Zoo New England will discuss the habits and peculiarities of our armored Bay State residents and the programs that ZNE and others are doing to ensure their survival well into the future.